Creating perceptual maps in the hospitality sector using eWOMs: an application to hotels in Tiradentes-MG

Effective positioning is critical when it comes to achieving business success. One helpful method for understanding customer perceptions of service attributes is perceptual mapping. The Internet has significantly impacted the hospitality industry, and customer reviews have emerged as a popular source of information. This paper explores the use of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) to create perceptual maps in the hospitality industry. It presents a strategy involving gathering and analyzing eWOMs using web scraping and text mining tools to build perceptual maps. This strategy has been applied to eWOMs for customers from ten hotels in Tirantes/MG, which were extracted from the Booking.com platform. The maps worked on three key dimensions that influence the perception of hotel services analyzed: Quality and Service (amenities, comfort, cleanliness), Guest Preferences (room types, customer groups), and Economic Factors (price, value for money, staff performance). Hotels that excel in these areas have aligned with the diverse needs of guests and market segments, indicating a strategic positioning in service quality and customer satisfaction. The study encourages using eWOMs as they provide strategic options beyond simple descriptive analysis for hotel managers. The findings of this study can help managers understand their customers’ perceptions of their services compared to those of their competitors. This can allow managers to make future-directed strategic decisions to improve targeted areas.